Sparks fly over Israel during Connecticut Democrats' U.S. Senate debate

WEST HARTFORD -- It was a new tone and a new day in the race for the U.S. Senate race among Democrats, when Lee Whitnum called one of the contenders "a whore" in his support for Israel and another "ignorant."

Whitnum, who was not invited by the organizers of the last debate in early March, was condemned afterwards by her colleagues and by U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5, the subject of her "whore" comment, during the debate when he had a chance to react to her criticism.

Whitnum, acknowledged she may have crossed the line, saying she "wasn't really thrilled" with her performance, according to the Associated Press.

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"I'm dealing with a whore here who sells his soul to AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee), who will say anything for the job," she said of Murphy's support for Israel. She referred to state Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, another candidate as "ignorant."

Earlier in the debate she said she would bring more federal dollars back to Connecticut by advocating that the U.S. stop its support for Israel which she estimated, if ended, could mean $600 million for Connecticut to fix its schools and bridges. Whitnum said she is suing the federal government over this. She also sued to be part of the last debate, but was turned down by the court.

"The Jewish community has always taken care of its own. There isn't any reason why Connecticut children and Connecticut people have to pay the price for a country that is not impoverished," Whitnum said.

Murphy said now more than ever Israel needs support from the United States.

"This is in our national security interest, ultimately in the interest of U.S. taxpayers to have a strong relationship with Israel and I think it is worth saying on this stage that a lot of her comments have been out of bounds and over the line," said Murphy, who along with Susan Bysiewicz are the leading contenders for the party's nomination, according to the recent polls.

Whitnum proposed that the U.S. prosecute American settlers who "go to Israel and maim or kill in the Proimised Land." She said

this "would solve anti-American sentiments worldwide. This is the number one reason why people hate this country."

As part of his final comments Murphy said he was rethinking his support for all the contenders to be part of the debates that are just starting to unfold for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, I-Conn.

"I'd advocated for all the candidates to be a part of these debates and I might think twice about that with that kind of awful language being used on the airwaves," Murphy said of the live debate sponsored by NBC Connecticut.

Marc Bradley, campaign manager for Tong, afterwards said there was no place for these personal attacks in the race and he called the slur she used against Murphy "despicable."

Most of the discussion in the debate was about issues closer to home, including a question on whether a ruling by the Supreme Court throwing out health care reform would amount to judicial activism.

The high court heard three days of arguments on the Accountable Care Act last week on a policy that is at the center of President Barack Obama's first term agenda.

Bysiewicz agreed with Obama's criticism of judcial activism and said she would fight to get health reform reinstated if it is thrown out by the court. The former secretary of the state in Connecticut, Bysiewicz said health care was a right with many Americans one diagnosis away from being bankrupted by medical costs.

Matthew Oakes, another lesser known candidate like Whitnum, said he wasn't sure about whether a negative vote amounted to activism, but said right now everyone is paying for those who don't have insurance.

Whitnum said the high court was already guilty of "misconduct" in the decision to put George W. Bush in the White House over Al Gore. She said the reform is close to Switzerland's and it worked successfully there.

Tong backed the president, who was Tong's constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago. "These judges on the Supreme Court right now ... are taking a very aggressive position it seems with our Constitution .. the people spoke through the passage of the Affordable Care Act and it would be an extraordinary act for the court to overturn that decision."

Murphy, who has long lead the fight for health care changes in the state and while in Congress, agreed with his colleagues. "This would be an outrageous example of judicial activism," he said.

The candidates also talked about high oil prices, with Whitnum characterizing it as a matter of supply and demand that needs to be met with more renewable alternatives.

Tong felt the Justice Department should get involved in challenging this and said he took on big oil already in Connecticut over zone pricings.

Murphy said much of it can be attributed to excessive commodity speculation that accounts for upwards of 40 percent of the price of gasoline. He said this would be helped if regulators put into effect changes already adopted by Congress. Murphy said worldwide the oil supply is at a 3-year high and demand at a 15-year low, so this is not the issue.

Bysiewicz promoted her plan for clean renewable energy contracts which she said would reduce the demand for oil from foreign countries that is costing us $1 billion a day and promote more than 1 million new jobs.

There was not a lot of disagreement around the Keystone XL Pipeline as an environmental hazard or the need for cheap loans to help students pay for college, although Whitnum said not everyone needs to go to college. She advised them to take some courses online and get their first two years at a community college as cheaper alternatives that give parents a break.